Should we restrict immigration and practice exclusion?

Should we restrict immigration and practice exclusion?

Political Philosophy
Should we restrict immigration?


Why do western societies restrict immigration? How do they justify policies that send back young children to violent countries? Can we really claim land possession? After all, we are all immigrants. Finally, what arguments support the idea of opening borders?


1. WHY RESTRICT IMMIGRATION?

Firstly, for cultural preservation. Restricting immigration is a way to preserve national culture. Our culture, built within centuries, is a fragile entity and needs to be protected. Also, humans belong to different cultures and these cultures should not be mixed. Otherwise, they might end up seriously eroded.
Take language as an example. What if language is degraded by immigration? Or violence? Or religion?

The second argument states the right of self-determination. As a country, we can choose and decide how we ought to live. This right to self-govern includes the right to exclude. Therefore, refusing immigration is just this: it’s our country and our land.

Lastly, the third argument pushes forward economic preservation. Immigrants steal our jobs and drive the wages down. Sometimes they come to benefit from our model of society! They gain free access to healthcare without paying anything.


2. DOES IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION NEED MORAL JUSTIFICATION?

If we expel young kids on the grounds that they were born on the wrong side of the border, should we explain to them why our action is just? Do we also need to find moral justifications to lay out to our own citizens?
Do our citizens want to belong to a country upholding ideas of justice that rationalize these actions? After all, to whom does the land belong? To the nation? Why? Why does France belong to the French? Is this due to history? So where in history do we start? Not before the 15th century hopefully… otherwise, the Americans must return to Europe.


3. ARGUMENTS AGAINST RESTRICTING IMMIGRATION

In 2010, there were 216 million immigr